Protective clip



M. SAMSON PROTECTIVE CLIP Aug. 15, 1961 Filed April 21, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l M. SAMSON PROTECTIVE CLIP Aug. 15, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 21, 1958 INVENTOR.

vvzamej 2,995,795 Patented Aug. 15, 1961 2,995,795 PROTECTIVE CLIP Martin Samson, Samson Products Co., 2601 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago, Ill. Filed Apr. 21, 1958, Ser. No. 729,918 Claims. (Cl. 24259) This invention relates to a protective member for an edge of relatively thin flexible material and more particularly to an enclosing clip for such edge.

An object of this invention is to provide an enclosing protective clip member for an edge of a relatively thin flexible member which is easily made and easily assembled with the material and which makes a strong permanent connection with the material so that the clip may be gripped and pulled without disengaging from the flexible material.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unitary protective clip for enclosing the edge of a relatively thin sheet or web of flexible material comprising a hollow elongated body formed of material having slight spring properties, a pair of flanges at opposite edges of the body spaced apart from each other a distance at least equal to the thickness of said flexible material and said flanges being formed to interlock with each other with the flexible material captured therebetween upon assembly of the clip with the material and movement of the flanges toward and past each other to maintain a tight grip on the flexible material edge.

Further objects and advantages Will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective elevational view of a sheet of flexible material having the clip aflixed thereto;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the clip in initial association with a sheet of flexible material;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the clip in association with the sheet material during the process of assembly;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the clip in fully assembled relation with the sheet of material;

FIG. 5 is an end view in elevation showing the clip in assembled relation with the sheet of material;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the structure shown in FIG. 5 with parts broken away;

FIG. 7 is a perspective elevation view of a modification of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the device shown in FIG. 7 in rolled-up condition;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary perspective view in elevation showing the clip in initial assembled position with a sheet of flexible material;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 showing the clip in partially assembled relation with the sheet of flexible material;

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 9 showing the clip in fully assembled relation with the flexible material; and

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary plan view of the structure shown in FIG. 11 with parts broken away.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the invention and a modification thereof with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

As shown in FIG. 1, the protective clip 10 is attached to the lower side of a sheet 11 which may be hung from a wall by clips as indicated at 12 or may be withdrawable from a reel holder as commonly found or used in connection with maps and charts.

As shown more particularly in FIGS. 2-6 the protective clip 10 is formed by a rolling operation as a unitary construction of a metal, such as cold rolled steel, having a slight amount of spring temper. The clip 10 has spaced apart side panels 15 and 16 which are connected by an intermediate panel '17 to form three sides of an enclosure. An outwardly turned flange 18 with an exposed raw edge 19 is associated with the side panel 15 by a rib 29 extending from a ridge 21 formed by a reversely curved section of the side panel 15. By this construction the outwardly turned flange 18 is located to overlie the intermediate panel 17.

The side panel 16 has an outwardly convex ridge 22 which supports an inwardly turned flange 23 formed by a reverse curve in the material. This flange 23 has a free edge 24. The ridge 22 is spaced from the intermediate panel 17 a greater distance than the flange 18.

The protective clip prior to assembly with the sheet of flexible material is as shown in FIG. 2 in which the free edges 19 and 24 of the flanges 18 and 23, respectively, are spaced from each other a distance at least equal to the thickness of the sheet material to enable assembly of the clip with the sheet material with the edge of the material within the enclosure formed by the clip. Also the flange free edges extend beyond each other along their length with the free edge 24 of the flange 23 spaced a lesser distance from the intermediate panel 17 than the free edge 19 of the flange 18.

With the parts in initially assembled relation as shown in FIG. 2 a lateral force may be applied to the side panel 16 as shown in FIG. 3 to cause the inwardly turned flange 23 to ride over the outwardly turned flange 18 and further movement of the side panels 15 and 16 toward each other results in the inwardly turned flange 23 snapping over the outwardly turned flange 18 into interlocking relation therewith with the flexible material 11 captured therebetween.

The snap action of the flanges is facilitated by the springiness of the material and the free edge 19 of the outwardly turned flange 18 constitutes a raw edge to bite into the material 11 and more securely hold the material.

The protective clip has many uses such as with maps and charts and other materials, such as window shades, which are pulled down and provides a member which may be grasped to eflect the pulling. The clip also is usable to protect the otherwise exposed edge of a sheet material.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 7-12 the protective clip has a generally cylindrical shape rather than the rectangular shape of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-6. The protective clip is in the form of an elongated member 40 secured to the underside of a sheet of material 11 and the elongated member is inwardly concave to form a partially cylindrical shape and is formed of material such as cold rolled steel having a slight amount of spring temper.

An outwardly turned flange 41 is disposed within the periphery of the member and supported by a rib 42 joining a reversely curved ridge 43 along an edge of the member. An inwardly turned flange 44 is formed at the other edge of the member 40 and is spaced from the outwardly turned flange 41 a distance equal at least to the thickness of a sheet of material 11.

The inwardly turned flange 44 is located generally opposite a gap between a free edge 45 of the outwardly turned flange 41 and the ridge 43 with a free edge of the inwardly turned flange extending beyond the free edge 45 of the outwardly turned flange 41. The free edge 45 of the outwardly turned flange 41 is spaced from the ridge 43 a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the member 40 and twice the thickness of the sheet material whereby the sheet 11 may wrap around both sides of the inwardly turned flange 44 when the flanges 41 and 44 are snapped over each other into overlapped interlocking relation.

The parts are shown in initially assembled relation in FIG. 9 and the application of laterally directed force to the parts results in an intermediate assembly position, shown in FIG. 10. In this position, the gap between outwardly turned flange 41 and ridge 43 has been increased by the flexibility of the connecting rib 42 and further lateral pressure positions the parts as shown in FIG. 11 in which the outwardly turned flange 41 has returned to an interlock position with the inwardly turned flange 44. In addition to this interlocking action a further squeeze is imparted to the paper to provide a tight gripping action by the spring action of the outwardly turned flange 41 pressing a part of the member 40 adjacent the inwardly turned flange 44 toward the ridge 43. It will be seen that in this embodiment a pull on the paper will tend to tightly maintain the locked overlap relation between the flanges 41 and 44.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that a protective clip has been provided which protects the edge of the material from damage and securely holds the edge of a sheet or web of material so that the clip may be engaged for pulling the sheet of material from a holder.

I claim:

1. A unitary enclosing clip for an edge of a relatively thin sheet comprising, an inwardly concave slotted elongated member adapted to form a generally cylindrically shaped enclosure and formed of springy material, an outwardly turned flange disposed within the periphery of the member and supported by a rib joining a reversely curved ridge along an edge of the member, an inwardly turned flange at the other edge of said member and spaced from said outwardly turned flange a distance equal to the thickness of said sheet, said inwardly turned flange being located generally opposite a gap between the free edge of the outwardly turned flange and said ridge with a free edge closer to an opposite point on the member than the outwardly turned flange free edge, said outwardly turned flange free edge being spaced from said ridge approximately a distance equal to the thickness of the material and twice the thickness of the sheet whereby the sheet may wrap around both sides of the inwardly turned flange when the flanges are snapped over each other to lock the sheet between said snapped over flanges.

2. A unitary enclosing clip for an edge of a relatively thin sheet comprising, an elongated member being inwardly concave to form a partially cylindrical shape and formed of springy material, an outwardly turned flange disposed within the periphery of the member and supported by a rib joining a reversely curved ridge along an edge of the member, an inwardly turned flange at the other edge of said member and spaced from said outwardly turned flange a distance equal to the thickness of said sheet, said inwardly turned flange being located generally opposite a gap between the free edge of the outwardly turned flange and said ridge with a free edge closer to an opposite part of the member than the outwardly turned flange free edge, whereby the sheet may wrap around both sides of the inwardly turned flange when the flanges are snapped over each other into overlapped interlocking rela- 4 tion with the sheet captured between said interlocked flanges.

3. A unitary enclosing clip for an edge of a relatively thin flexible material comprising, an elongated member formed of metal having spring properties and having spaced apart side panels connected by an intermediate panel to form three sides of an enclosure, an outwardly turned flange spaced from a side panel and connected thereto by a reversely curved ridge and a rib to overlie the intermediate panel, an inwardly turned flange spaced from the other side panel and connected thereto, said inwardly turned flange having a free edge closer to said intermediate panel than a free edge of said outwardly turned flange and spaced therefrom a distance equal to the thickness of the thin flexible material, whereby the flanges snap over each other into overlapped relation with the thin flexible material captured between the interlocked free edges.

4. A unitary enclosing clip for an edge of a relatively thin flexible material comprising, an elongated member formed of springy material having spaced apart side panels connected by an intermediate panel to form three sides of an enclosure, an outwardly turned flange spaced from a side panel and connected thereto by a reversely curved ridge to overlie the intermediate panel, an inwardly turned flange spaced from the other side panel and connected thereto by an outwardly convex ridge, said inwardly turned flange having a free edge closer to the intermediate panel than a free edge of said outwardly turned flange and spaced therefrom a distance equal to the thickness of the thin flexible material, said convex ridge being at a greater distance from the intermediate panel than the free edge of said outwardly turned flange to enable the flanges to snap over each other into overlapped relation with the thin flexible material captured between the interlocked free edges.

5. A clip and sheet assembly for an edge of a relatively thin flexible material sheet comprising, an elongated member formed of metal and having spaced apart side panels and an intermediate base, an outwardly turned flange with a free edge spaced from one side panel and connected thereto by a reversely curved ridge to lie between the side panels, and an inwardly turned flange extending from the other side panel toward said one side panel, said inwardly turned flange being at a greater distance from the base than the outwardly turned flange and with each flange having a free edge with the inwardly turned flange free edge closer to said base than the free edge of the outwardly turned flange, said flanges overlapping and interlocking with each other with the material sheet captured between the interlocked flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 350,850 Tatum Oct. 12, 1886 497,516 Brewer et a1. May 16, 1893 975,335 Dial Nov. 8, 1910 1,288,515 Coflin Dec. 24, 1918 FOREIGN PATENTS 293,489 Switzerland Dec. 16, 1953 623,033 Germany 1935 

